mortgage

(informalhome loan)a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization lends you money to buy a house, etc., and you pay the money back over a particular number of years; the sum of money that you borrowto apply for/take out/pay off a mortgagemortgage rates (= of interest)a mortgage on the housea mortgage of £60 000monthly mortgage paymentsWordfinderaccommodation,deed,home,house,lease,let,location,mortgage,squat,tenantWordfindercredit,debt,deposit,interest,lend,loan,money,mortgage,overdraft,riskCollocationsMoving house Rentinglive in a rented/(especially North American English) rental propertyrent/​share/​move into a furnished house/(British English) flat/(especially North American English) apartmentrent a studio/(British English) a studio flat/(especially North American English) a studio apartment/(British English) a bedsitfind/​get a housemate/(British English) a flatmate/(North American English) a roommatesign/​break the lease/​rental agreement/​contractextend/​renew/​terminate the lease/(British English) tenancyafford/​pay the rent/​the bills/(North American English) the utilities (especially British English) fall behind with/ (especially North American English) fall behind on the rentpay/​lose/​return a damage deposit/(North American English) security depositgive/​receive a month’s/​two-weeks’ notice to leave/​vacate the propertyBeing a landlordhave a flat/​apartment/​room(British English) to let/(especially North American English) for rentrent (out)/lease (out)/(British English)let (out)/sublet a flat/​apartment/​house/​propertycollect/​increase/​raise the rentevict the existing tenantsattract/​find new/​prospective tenantsinvest in rental property/(British English) property to let/(British English) the buy-to-let marketBuyingbuy/​acquire/​purchase a house/(a) property/(especially North American English) (a piece of) prime real estatecall/​contact/​use(British English) an estate agent/(North American English) a Realtor™/(North American English) a real estate agent/​brokermake/(British English)put in an offer on a houseput down/​save for(British English) a deposit on a housemake/​put/​save for(especially North American English) a down payment on a house/​homeapply for/​arrange/​take out a mortgage/​home loan(struggle to) pay the mortgagemake/​meet/​keep up/​cover the monthly mortgage payments/(British English also) repayments(British English)repossess/(especially North American English)foreclose on somebody’s home/​houseSellingput your house/​property on the market/​up for sale/​up for auctionincrease/​lower your price/​the asking pricehave/​hold/​hand over the deed/(especially British English) deeds of/​to the house, land, etc.CulturemortgagesHouses are expensive to buy and few people have enough money of their own. Most people have to take out a mortgage, a type of loan(= sum of money lent). In Britain people usually get a mortgage from a bank or a building society; in the US they get one from a bank or a savings and loan association. People put down a deposit(= pay a percentage of the price of the property) and borrow the rest, although some lenders will lend almost all the amount needed. Mortgages are paid back in monthly payments over a period of years. The person borrowing the money has to pay interest on the loan, so that the final amount paid is considerably more than the amount of the loan itself. The security(= guarantee that the lender will be repaid) for the loan is the house itself. If a borrower fails to keep up payments, the house may be repossessed by the lender and sold so that they can get their money back. The financial crisis in the years following 2008 was partly caused by too much money being lent in mortgages to people who could not afford to pay it back. These mortgages became known as subprime mortgages.There are different types of mortgages. With a fixed-rate mortgage, the amount of interest remains at a particular level and the monthly payments do not change. This type of mortgage is more popular in the US than Britain, where variable-rate mortgages (AmE usually adjustable-rate mortgages) are more common. With a variable-rate mortgage, the rate of interest can increase or decrease depending on the state of the economy. Another type of mortgage in Britain is the endowment mortgage: borrowers pay interest on the loan to the bank or building society and a fixed sum towards an endowment policy, a type of insurance policy which should pay a sum of money that will be used to repay the loan. Many people with endowment mortgages have suffered because the growth of the policy was not enough to repay the loan and they are no longer sold.For many people, paying back a mortgage is their greatest financial burden. People talk of being ‘mortgaged up to the hilt’, meaning that their mortgage payments leave them with little money for anything else. It is possible to take out a second mortgage on a house. Another practice, called remortgaging (AmErefinancing) involves changing an existing mortgage to a different type offered by the lender or replacing it with a mortgage from another lender, usually in order to obtain a lower rate of interest.House prices sometimes rise very fast and then fall again. Some people who buy a house when prices are high can become victims of negative equity. Equity means the part of the value of a house that the buyer owns, and negative equity means a situation in which the value of a house falls below the amount borrowed as a mortgage. This makes it impossible to sell the house without being left with debt.See related entries:Buying a homeWord Originlate Middle English: from Old French, literally

‘dead pledge’

, from mort (from Latinmortuus

‘dead’

) + gage

‘pledge’

.Extra examplesHe didn’t earn enough to support his family and pay the mortgage.He raised the money by taking out a second mortgage on his house.He wasn’t earning enough to pay the mortgage.I couldn’t get a mortgage on the property.There are penalties if you want to redeem your mortgage early.They fell behind with/​on their mortgage, so their home was repossessed.They were having trouble getting a mortgage.They were struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments.We have a big mortgage.We’ll have to take out a second mortgage to pay for this holiday!We’ve got a big mortgage.a mortgage of $800 000a rise in mortgage ratesmortgage interest paymentsFortunately we’ve already paid off our mortgage.He’s been having trouble keeping up with his monthly mortgage repayments.Mortgage rates are up again this month.